According to the organizational
history of the Air Base Detachment, APO 959 "History of Haleiwa from Nov
41 to Jun 44" quoted on 1 June 1944, "This post found it's origin as a
gunnery range in 1928." The actual 18th Pursuit Group records of
December 1928 state further: "The major portion of the flying training for
December 1928 was confined to aerial gunnery on tow targets at ranges Number 1
and 2 at Haleiwa"

Further quoted from the ABD APO 959
Organization History of Haleiwa of 1 June 1944:

"On the 3rd of December 1941 the 47th
Pursuit Squadron was assigned to this base. It is of great interest that
this was the only base and organization that was able to put planes in the air
on December the seventh. This was not a regular runway, just something
comparable to an old country road rather than an airstrip. From an old
history of Wheeler Field compiled by Capt. KISTLER RHOAD the following
information was extracted. 2D Lieut GEORGE S WELCH and KENNETH M TAYLOR
left the officer's Club the morning of December 7th at 0800 and traveled 100 MPH
to the airstrip at Haleiwa where the ships of their squadron had been assigned
only four (4) days before for aerial gunnery practice. In P-40B's Lieut
WELCH was credited with shooting down four (4) Japanese planes. Both
Lieutenants were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Lieut. HARRY
BROWN in a P-36A shot down one plane. Each of these officers were members
of the 47th Pursuit Squadron. The 47th left the base on February 22, 1942"

Text Dave Trojan below:

Haleiwa Fighter Strip, Haleiwa HI is
located at 21.6 North / 158.1 West, Northwest of Honolulu, HI. The site of the
Haleiwa Fighter Strip is located north of the intersection of Route 83 &
Kahalewai Place. The date of construction of the Haleiwa airfield has not been
determined. The earliest depiction of the field that has been located was an
April 27, 1933 aerial photo that depicted a group of B-6A biplanes on a modest
grass field at Haleiwa (Hawaiian, 2000). This obscure former military strip
became famous during the Pearl Harbor Attack, December 7th 1941.

Originally used as an emergency landing field, in 1941 Haleiwa Field had only an
unpaved landing strip and very austere conditions. Haleiwa Field was mainly
used to simulate real battle conditions for gunnery training. Little did they
know that they would soon be put to the test under real battle conditions?
Those on temporary duty there had to bring their own tents & equipment. During
the war, the runway was paved and it became a busy reliever base for fighter
aircraft patrolling the islands. A World War II era photo depicted a Bell P-39
taxiing past a temporary wooden control tower and another wooden building at
Haleiwa (Hawaiian, 2000).

On December 7th the Japanese heavily
strafed the aircraft at Wheeler Field and few aircraft were able to get airborne
to fend them off. Haleiwa was an auxiliary field to Wheeler and contained a
collection of aircraft temporarily assigned to the field including aircraft from
the 47th Pursuit Squadron. A total of eight
Curtiss P-40 Kitty Hawk and 2 Curtiss P-36 Mohawk pursuit planes were at the
field on the morning of 7 December 1941 (Bauer,
2004).

Lt. George S. Welch and 2nd Lt. Kenneth
M. Taylor, both P-40 pilots, were at Wheeler when the attack began. They had
previously flown their P-40B fighters over to the small airfield at Haleiwa as
part of a plan to disperse the squadron’s planes away from Wheeler. Not waiting
for instructions the pilots called ahead to Haleiwa and had both their fighters
fueled, armed and warmed up. Both men raced in their cars to Haleiwa Field
completing the 16-mile trip in about 15 minutes. With their P-40s, now warmed
up and ready, they jumped into their cockpits. The crew chiefs informed them
that they should disperse their planes. "The hell with that", said Welch.
Ignoring the usual pre-takeoff checklists the aircraft took off down the narrow
airstrip.

Once in the air they spotted a large
number of aircraft in the direction of Ewa and Pearl Harbor. Only then did they
realize what they were up against. “There were between 200 and 300 Japanese
aircraft," said Taylor; "there were just two of us!" The two P-40's engaged the
aircraft attacking Ewa Mooring Mast and shot down five Japanese planes. They
then returned to Wheeler to replenish their ammunition. While there, another
wave of dive bombers appeared and Lt. Taylor raced back into the air. His
P-40's cockpit was damaged as a Japanese plane chased him. Lt. Welch was able
to down the plane following him and they both returned back to Wheeler. Lt.
Welch was credited with a total of four Japanese planes shot down and Lt. Taylor
downed two. Just as suddenly as it began, the sky was empty of enemy aircraft
(Jordon, 2000). Both are credited with being the first "Aces" of World War II.
Taylor & Welch were both awarded the Distinguished Service Cross." Walsh &
Taylor's dramatic ride & takeoff was shown in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora.

After the war Haleiwa Fighter Strip was
apparently reused as a civilian airport for some period of time. Haleiwa was
depicted as a civilian airport on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart. It
was described as having a 4,800' hard-surface runway. The Haleiwa Airport was
apparently abandoned at some point between 1947-61, as it was not depicted at
all on the 1961 Honolulu Sectional Chart, and was not depicted at all on recent
USGS topo maps.

Little of Haleiwa Field remains today,
although the area is not completely abandoned. The remains of the single runway
that was paved during World War II can still be seen today but the tarmac is
severely compromised by weed growth. The area is currently being used as a
motion picture location for various TV shows and movies. Homeless squatters
have occupied camps in the heavily overgrown areas. On the north end of the
runway still stands the foundation of the control tower and evidence of concrete
slabs from building foundations. The land remains undeveloped and is owned by
Kamehameha Schools. Hawaiian Historical Aviation Foundation members are
interested in restoring part of Haleiwa Field to its original condition, given
its national historical importance. The idea is also to create a large open
space that can be used for North Shore events (Burlingame, 2005).